With the month of February quickly approaching us, everyone is starting to feel the “ugh internships” mood. Why “ugh"? Well, the process of finding and getting a summer internship is not the easiest of tasks. Yes, applying for colleges was a lot harder, but now that that has passed, *this* has now become the bane of most people’s existence, for multiple reasons. Here are the top 5:
1. Figuring out what you want to do, where, and when.
I am willing to bet that over December/winter break, most of you, if not all of you, got the same shpiel from your parents: "so have you been looking into summer internships...do you even know what you want...you need to figure this stuff out fast, kid." For those of you who are in the sciences, your version of this talk was probably more like "so have you contacted any PI's yet? Have you finished writing the first draft of your research proposals?"
And if you are specifically Pre-Health then maybe you have heard "I think you should contact your doctor, you know, see if you can shadow him/her over the summer." "Maybe you should contact Boston Children's hospital, see if you can be a scribe there or something." Yep, this first struggle definitely puts eye twitches to another level.
2. Dealing with the anxiety of contacting your list of internship programs/jobs/research labs.
So you have figured out what you want to do, and where, and when, but maybe you are not that great with talking to adults, specifically the adults who will determine the course of your future success (or failures). Well, you are not alone!
The mere idea of having to write emails to people who are experts in their fields can be stressful. But I assure you, once you have written those emails, and once you have edited each one of those at least 3 times, and once you click "send," it is a very freeing experience, cleansing even.
3. Appearing relatively decent during interviews, proposal talks, and asking your oh so favorite Chemistry professor of like 1000 kids to write you a recommendation letter for every single program you are applying to.
I bet you wished you had sat in the first or second row now, don't you?
4. Waiting to hear back from them.
When the going gets tough, turn to Buzzfeed quizzes and videos for distraction.
5. Finally getting accepted into the internship program you wanted, but then realizing you'll have no time to spend leisurely with your beloved friends and family.
Work hard now...play hard later, am I right?
